[Here are some helpful resources and a helpful analysis by Larry Hurtado on the Emperor cult] Roman Emperor Cult & Early Christianity: Some Recent Studies by larryhurtado In the ancient Roman setting in which the Christian movement emerged, the Emperor was a towering figure, successively from Augustus onward. I experienced a particular example of this myself a few years ago when visiting the Roman theatre in Orange. Above the stage area stood a large statue of the Emperor, signifying his... Read more

In summing up recent trends in the assessment of the relationship of the Paul of the letters, and the Paul of Acts, Simon Butticaz in his article ” Has God Rejected his People (Rom. 11.1): The Salvation of Israel in Acts: Narrative Claim of a Pauline Legacy” (pp. 148-64) argues that “Modern research now appears to be firmly engaged in a third direction: locating the Paulinism of Luke between irrefutable proximity and noteworthy distance. In other words, the exegetes are... Read more

This is a reposting of some of Larry’s updating of his essay on monotheism. “Monotheism” in/and Ancient Roman Religion: The Continuing Discussion by larryhurtado Having just tried to do a last-minute updating of my essay, “How Do We Recognize ‘Ancient Jewish Monotheism’ in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods?,” scheduled to appear in the next issue of Journal of Ancient Judaism, I want to mention a recent multi-author volume with some high-quality contributions on a number of matters relating to religious... Read more

The second major portion of Paul and the Heritage of Israel deals with The Figure and Legacy of Paul in Acts. The first essay in this section is an important one by David Moessner. Moessner situations Acts, quite rightly, as a volume completed in the last couple of decades of the first century when the first generation of witnesses had died off or were no longer able to give credible witness. Written apostolic traditions are proliferating, collections of Paul’s letters... Read more

Thanks to Amy George for the lead on these pictures! Read more

My friend and colleague Larry Hurtado, now emeritus at Edinburgh is one of the leading authorities on early Jesus devotion by his followers. Here is a helpful clarifying post of his that he put up a month ago. ——- On Being Understood (about the Origins of Jesus-Devotion) by larryhurtado It’s discouraging to be misunderstood. It happens to others as well. In some cases it may seem entirely accountable to the way that some express their views, e.g., with vague or... Read more

The recent droughts and wild fires over the last five years (think yet another effect of climate change) have led to some astonishing things animals have done to find water and survive. Read more

For a full week, this lonely polar bear came out to play with his new friend, the huskie. To heck with survival of the fittest, or biggest, or most unbearable. Read more

All day my wife had had this sense of dread, a sense that something had gone terribly wrong. The dread had a focus— our daughter Christy, whom we had not heard from for a couple of days. Then came the phone call late at night that no parent ever wants. Christy was dead and gone, felled by an unexpected pulmonary embolism. The thing is, that Ann had carried around the strong sense that it had already happened before it was... Read more